Today is a national holiday in Portugal. In Spain, as well.

For the most part, businesses are closed, and people aren’t working. Back in the USA, we’d refer to these special days as “bank holidays.”

Here in Iberia, today’s honor belongs to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which recognizes the Roman Catholic belief of the Virgin Mary’s immaculate conception (preserved from “original sin”) in her mother’s womb and is considered the first official day of Christmas celebrations for many people.

Others, however, look to “Black Friday” (no translation needed) as the true beginning of their holiday season.

In countries where Catholicism is the national religion, today is considered a “holy day of obligation,” religious feast days on which Catholics must attend mass and refrain from unnecessary work.

Do they?

Some do, especially older folks; others don’t, preferring to sleep in, enjoying a day with their families while catching up on household chores or taking day trips together.

Of Portugal’s 13 annual legal holidays, seven – more than half – are religious. In addition to Feast of the Immaculate Conception, there’s Good Friday (April), Easter (April), Corpus Christi (June), Assumption of Mary (August), All Saints’ Day (November), and Christmas Day (December) in 2023.

Spain has ten national holidays of which seven – 70% — are also based on religious observances: Today’s Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Christmas Day, Epiphany, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Assumption of Mary, and All Saints’ Day.

Add to these the regional holidays devoted to a given area’s particular saint.

While the vast majority (81%) of today’s Portuguese identify as Roman Catholic, most consider themselves “non-practicing.” And, according to the Spanish Center for Sociological Research, 52% of the Spanish self-identify as Catholic … with 35.2% defining themselves as non-practicing, while 16.8% see themselves as practicing their religion.

For many Spanish and Portuguese people, national and cultural identity is often linked to Catholicism rather than purely a religious affiliation.

Certainly, everyone appreciates the time off of work as designated by the state.

Rather than be obligated by religious holy days that no longer are the fabric of their lives, perhaps it’s time to be more flexible … allowing people to determine their own personal, meaningful holidays?